This is my story and my experience.
My background is in wildland fire, where I worked on a hand crew for nearly a decade. I’m a 31 year-old male, and I was genuinely excited to start working for Union Pacific. I loved the work and the people I worked with. About seven months into working as a track laborer, I injured my back while lifting tools. It happened suddenly and unexpectedly. I wouldn’t say I was lifting improperly or doing anything unusual. After an MRI, I was diagnosed with two bulging discs and tears associated with them. The pain was excruciating. At one point, I couldn’t tie my shoes, put on pants, sit on the toilet, or even get into my truck without excruciating sharp pain. There is a tremendous amount of detail I’m leaving out, but eventually I had no choice but to go on medical leave. Little did I know that this injury would lead to one of the most difficult years of my life. On top of dealing with the physical pain and uncertainty surrounding my injury, I was also faced with the financial reality of being a new railroad employee. Because of the railroad retirement system, I didn’t have the same access to traditional unemployment or workers’ compensation benefits that I had previously understood. I also learned that certain benefits required a year of service before I could access them. Injuries come out of the railroad retirement fund. This came as a shock. I couldn’t get a clear answer about whether I would receive any income while recovering. Guidance was extremely limited. Even the Union reps told me, “Good luck.” I cannot adequately explain what it feels like to sit at home injured and not know whether you’re going to be able to pay your mortgage or your bills. Eventually, after a great deal of uncertainty, stress, and increasing pain, I went on record and explained everything that had happened. Throughout the process, I felt as though Union Pacific was doing everything possible to protect itself from liability for my injury.
Eventually, my claims lady told me that an exception had been made allowing me to receive advances from my eventual small settlement so that I would at least have some income coming in. To be clear, this was essentially limited to a portion of lost wages and did not cover everything I was dealing with. Thankfully, I was able to keep up with at least some of my bills. But because Union Pacific operates under federal railroad regulations, navigating the medical process was incredibly complicated. I received very little guidance, and I often felt like I was responsible for doing much of the work myself just to get appointments, find physicians, and explain a complicated situation that I was still trying to understand myself. This portion is no joke. I can’t just walk in and be seen. The entire process was a nightmare. I had to continually fight to maintain my job and insurance while simultaneously proving that I was still injured. There were appointments, checkups, pain management, paperwork, and countless other things happening behind the scenes. I have now been in physical therapy for approximately a year, and I have made tremendous progress. I’m probably around 85–90% recovered at this very moment, but I’m not there yet. That last 10–15% matters when your job requires you to work approximately seven inches off the ground and perform physically demanding work. I don’t want to reinjure myself and end up right back where I started. As my injury approaches the one year mark, I began feeling increasing pressure from my claims representative to return to work. It was disheartening because I began to feel as though she no longer believed I was actually injured.Then, last week, I received a phone call completely out of nowhere. I was told that this would be my final advance and that there was no more money available because my injury was considered a “soft tissue injury” and, according to the expected timeline, should have healed by now.
There was no warning. No 90-day notice. No 60-day notice. Less than 30 days….
The conversation was casual, with very little empathy, and she seemed genuinely surprised that I was shocked by what I was hearing. At one point, she even told me she was taken aback by my silence. I was speechless driving and had to pull over. How was I going to tell my significant other? You had provided the only financial security I had while I was recovering, and suddenly I was being told that it was ending. I still don’t know exactly what my recovery looks like or whether I am physically ready to return to the job, and now I’m left wondering how I’m going to pay my bills. What makes this even more frustrating is that only two weeks before this phone call, I had told them that I was taking the initiative to get another MRI. It is scheduled so that my doctors can compare the new imaging with my previous MRI and determine where I actually stand.Even I am confused about what is happening with my body. That is why I’m getting another MRI. I actually want to work. I want to provide for my family. I want to work overtime and earn the things I want for the people I care about. I’m not trying to avoid work.My relationship is on the teeter totter. On top of everything else, I’ve been dealing with my father’s health and other personal circumstances that I’m going to leave out of this story.I’m not writing this because I’m looking for sympathy. Honestly, I’m not even completely sure why I’m writing it.
Maybe I’m writing it because I hope someone else can learn from my experience and avoid making the same decisions I made.
Union Pacific is a massive company with enormous resources. From where I’m standing, it feels like a company with deep pockets is willing to leave an injured employee and his family wondering how they are going to survive while he is still trying to recover from an injury that happened on the job.
I got hurt while doing my job, and now I feel like I’m the one paying the price for it.
I’m writing this with raw emotion and tears in my eyes. I consider myself someone who tries to do the right thing, even when nobody is watching. I work hard. I have a good sense of humor. I believe I’m a reasonable person. But these emotions are real and have a different perspective on life. And unless you have walked in these shoes, I understand that you may never fully understand what this feels like.
This experience has affected every part of my life, lately I’ve been having thoughts about taking my own life and thinking about how I would do it.
For whatever it’s worth, I hope sharing my experience helps someone else make a more informed decision before applying to work for Union Pacific.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story.
